A pillar of blinding light pierced the thick canopy of the Beast Forest. Descending in silence, it cut the deep shadows like a blade. When the glow finally touched the forest floor, no grass burned. No fallen leaves singed. Instead, the light slowly faded into nothing, shrinking back into the damp earth as if it had never existed.
The only thing left behind was a small figure at the base of a tree.
A simple white shirt, dark woven shorts, and stiff leather boots clothed the six-year-old boy. Lying still against the dirt, his chest rose and fell with shallow breaths.
Time passed. The forest remained quiet, entirely indifferent to his arrival.
Eventually, a small brown rabbit hopped from the undergrowth. Finding no danger, the creature stepped cautiously closer to the unconscious boy. It nudged his hand, leaned down, and licked his cheek.
A flinch. Eyelids fluttering, the boy slowly opened his eyes.
Sunlight filtered through the leaves in dusty beams. He pushed himself up, his pale, fair skin stained with wet moss and soil. Strands of messy black hair fell across his vision. Brushing them away, his bright red eyes scanned his own arms in confusion.
His mind was empty.
A frantic search of his brain yielded nothing. He closed his eyes and pushed harder, clawing the depths of his own head for a name, a mother, a father, a home. He found only a blankness. It felt exactly like reaching out to grab a familiar hand in the dark and grasping empty air.
Where am I?
Panic seized his chest. His small heart beat rapidly against his ribs.
He stumbled to his feet. His boots felt heavy, as if he had never walked in them before. Endless rows of timber and dense foliage surrounded him. The woods smelled of wet earth and rotting wood.
"What is this place?"
The whisper was small, completely unfamiliar to his own ears.
Standing still felt like waiting to die. Walking seemed the only option. Without knowing his destination, he picked a direction and started moving. Hopping along right behind him, the brown rabbit became a tiny anchor of comfort in this terrifying new world.
At first, the environment held a strange wonder. Glowing blue mushrooms clung to the roots, and the distant, rushing sound of water eventually pulled him through the ferns to a river. He knelt on the muddy bank and drank, letting the cold water soothe his dry throat.
But as the march continued, the beauty of the forest began to curdle.
He walked and walked. A dull ache throbbed in his legs. His breathing grew heavy. Slowly, the environment faded into a dizzying maze where every trunk looked exactly the same. The thickening canopy choked out the sun. Shadows stretched across the dirt, growing longer and sharper like reaching fingers.
Exhausted and completely alone.
Now what?
A thick root curved out of the earth, offering a place to surrender. He collapsed onto the wood, pulling his knees tight to his chest. The rabbit hopped up next to him. A trembling hand reached out to pet its soft fur, trying to calm his racing heart.
Rustle.
A branch snapped in a nearby bush.
The rabbit froze. The boy stopped breathing. The air suddenly shifted, bringing a foul stench of rotten meat and wet fur.
Is someone there? he thought, his blood running cold.
"Hello?" he called out, his voice trembling in the woods. "Who's there?"
A thick brush snapped and tore. A wild boar stepped out.
Standing over five feet tall, the beast easily dwarfed the six-year-old boy. Coarse black hair covered a maroon hide packed with dense muscle. Four thick, curved tusks jutted from its lower jaw, scraping the dirt as it shifted its heavy bulk. Tiny, blood-red eyes locked onto him with mindless rage.
The rabbit bolted, vanishing into the deep woods in a blur of brown.
The boy scrambled backward, his hands slipping in the mud. A scream tore from his throat—high, sharp enough to echo through the ancient trees. He spun and ran as fast as his legs could carry him.
Behind him, the earth shook. It was charging.
As he sprinted blindly through the underbrush, low branches whipped across his face and scratched his cheeks. A trunk blocked the path. Without stopping to think, he jumped, scrambling over the slippery wood and landing hard on his knees on the other side.
CRASH.
The boar did not jump. Ramming headfirst into the fallen tree, it shattered the wood into flying splinters and burst through the wreckage, barely slowing down.
A terrified cry escaped the boy's lips. I can't outrun it! "Someone!" he screamed, tears blurring his vision as he scrambled back to his feet. "Someone, please help!"
He pushed himself up, running in a zigzag pattern, dodging between the trees. Footsteps thundered right behind him, tearing up the grass.
Lungs burning. Legs like lead. Spotting a thick oak ahead, he dove behind it and pressed his back flat against the bark. He squeezed his eyes shut, covered his head with his hands, praying the monster would run past.
The trunk split down the middle with a deafening crack.
The concussive force launched the boy forward, sending him skipping like a stone through the dirt and roots.
Completely disoriented, the world spun in a blur of green and brown. He forced himself up on his hands and knees, only to find the boar already waiting.
Its head swung. A bone-hard snout caught the boy right in the stomach. All the air was punched from his lungs. Tossed high into the air, he flew backward.
His spine collided horizontally with a tree trunk.
CRACK.
Solid wood dented from the crushing impact. Falling to the dirt, the boy gasped for air. Pain exploded through his body. His vision dimmed. Blood flowed freely from deep gashes on his arms and legs, staining his white shirt a sickly red.
Forcing his heavy head up, he tasted copper.
Fifty yards away, the maroon boar scraped its hooves against the dirt. It snorted, dragging its tusks through the moss. Lowering its head, it pointed four deadly spikes directly at his bleeding body.
It squealed, kicking up dirt as it lunged for the killing blow.
The boy squeezed his eyes shut. He didn't know who they were, or if they even existed, but primal instinct pulled the words from his trembling lips.
"Mom... Dad..." he whimpered, bracing for the end. "Help me."
But the impact never came.
A crash shook the ground. The boy forced his heavy eyelids open. A silhouette stood squarely between him and the monster. The man held a longsword flaring with a red aura. The boar shrieked as enchanted steel met bone, the force of the parry shattering two of the beast's tusks.
Then, soft hands touched the boy's face.
A woman slid into the mud beside him. She gently lifted his bleeding head into her lap.
"Hold on," she whispered, her amber eyes wide with worry.
An emerald light bloomed from her open palms. Healing magic flowed outward like warm water. It washed over his broken skin, rapidly stitching his torn muscles back together.
Through half-open eyes, the boy watched the warrior easily vault onto the beast's back and plunge the glowing sword directly into its skull. A thud shook the forest floor. The boar didn't twitch again.
The soothing light from the woman's magic washed away the searing pain, but it couldn't erase his exhaustion. The taste of blood faded from his mouth. His vision darkened, pulling him safely into sleep.
A sharp gasp.
His eyes snapped open. Shooting up in the bed, his chest heaved. Panic gripped his throat. He expected charging monsters and deadly tusks.
Instead, a clean wooden ceiling greeted him. Cool night air drifted through a nearby window, carrying the faint light of the moon. He was sitting in a soft bed. Thick blankets pulled up to his chest smelled faintly of lavender.
A chair scraped against the floorboards.
A woman sat up quickly from beside his bed, her face illuminated by a single candle on the nightstand. It was the woman from the forest. Her tense expression softened instantly.
"Hey, it's okay," she said gently. Reaching out, she placed a warm hand on his small, trembling shoulder. "You're safe. You've been asleep for a week, but the monster is gone. You're safe now."
His rapid breathing slowly began to steady. The nightmare faded, but he kept a wary, white-knuckled grip on the blankets. Looking at her amber eyes, the tight coil of fear in his chest loosened slightly.
"Who are you?" he rasped, his voice raw from disuse. "Where am I?"
She offered a warm, reassuring smile. "I'm Mira. And you are safe in my house."
A rumbling growl echoed loudly in the quiet room.
Flinching, the boy grabbed his stomach.
Mira giggled, a bright sound that felt entirely out of place to his frayed nerves. "Looks like you're hungry," she smiled, standing up and smoothing her skirts. "You can join us for dinner. Come on."
He pushed the blankets aside and tentatively stood. The pain from the forest was completely gone, but the moment his bare feet touched the floorboards, his legs felt like hollow reeds. A dull wave of dizziness washed over him. He had to catch himself against the wooden bedframe, taking a shaky breath before following her out of the bedroom.
Down a short hallway, the savory smell of roasted meat made his mouth water. They entered a cozy, warmly lit dining room. Waiting for them at a round wooden table, the warrior had taken off his armor and wore a simple tunic. The hunting scars on his jaw looked less intimidating in the warm light of the stone hearth. He smiled broadly when the boy walked in.
"Have a seat, kid," the man said, gesturing to an empty wooden stool.
Sitting cautiously, the boy watched Mira walk to the hearth and bring over the hot food. She placed a steaming plate of roasted boar meat right in front of him, adding a deep bowl of vegetable soup and a loaf of freshly baked bread.
Grabbing the bread, he tore a piece off with his teeth and started eating, keeping his red eyes downcast.
The man rested his thick arms on the table. He studied the guest for a moment, scanning the boy's unbruised frame before speaking.
"How are you feeling?"
A heavy swallow. "I'm... fine," the boy said quietly.
"That's good." The warrior leaned forward slightly, his tone casual but curious. "I'm Darius. What's your name, kid? What were you doing out in the Beast Forest... all alone?"
The chewing stopped. The boy lowered the bread back to his plate and stared blankly at his soup. He searched his mind for the answers, digging as deep into his memory as he possibly could.
Nothing. Just an endless void where his past should be.
He slowly shook his head, looking up at the strangers. His bright red eyes were wide and frightened.
"I don't know," the boy whispered, his voice cracking under the weight of the realization. "I don't know who I am. I don't know why I was in that forest... I don't remember anything."
Darius and Mira exchanged a heavy, silent look. Profound pity washed over both of their faces.
"We heard you scream," Mira explained softly, stepping around the table to kneel beside Darius's chair. "Darius and I were hunting orcs about a mile away. When we broke through the trees, that monster was about to... well. We're just glad we reached you in time."
She reached over and smacked Darius firmly on the shoulder. "Stop interrogating him. Look at what he just went through. Let him recover first."
Rubbing his arm, Darius looked guilty. "Right. Sorry. Bad habit."
The room grew quiet, save for the comforting crackle of the fireplace. Boy looked down at his hands. Home.
"I want to go home," he whispered, a single tear finally spilling over his cheek. "But I don't even know where that is."
Mira's expression melted with sympathy. She reached out, gently placing her warm hand over his small, shaking one. Another reassuring smile followed.
"In that case, until you remember," she said softly, "we'll call you Ravon."
Leaning back in his wooden chair, Darius smiled approvingly. "Ravon. I like it."
Ravon looked between the two of them. A strange, unfamiliar warmth settled deep in his chest. It felt like a small spark of light fighting back against the emptiness of his mind.
"You don't have to worry about the rest right now," Mira promised. She gently brushed a piece of messy black hair away from his forehead. "You can stay with us for as long as you want."
"Yeah," Darius agreed, picking up his own piece of bread. "And tomorrow, I'll head into the city. I'll submit a missing person quest for an unknown boy at the Adventurer's Guild. If anyone is looking for you, we'll help them find you."
Ravon looked back down at his plate. He didn't know who he was or where he came from. But sitting in this warm room, eating the very monster that had almost killed him, he knew one thing for absolute certain:
He was finally safe.